The US Census Bureau is best known for its wildly popular population results released once every 10 years; however, census workers don’t just lay down on the job and rest on their laurels the other nine years – in fact, they are very busy bees, constantly collecting all sorts of information you might never think they would.
A new batch of data released covering a wide variety of topics provides some interesting information – some of which might admittedly be called trivia – but it helps build a picture of Guilford County. The newly released results are part of the Bureau’s American Community Survey program that covers the five-year period of 2013 through 2017.
So, if you’re a trivia buff or are just interested in the county you live in, read on.
For instance, did you know that the Census Bureau asks people what kinds of computing devices they use? Well, they do. In Guilford County, 76 percent of the people use either a desktop or laptop computer, and 69 percent use a smartphone; 51 percent use a tablet like an iPad or use some other wireless portable device.
Unfortunately the census data – at least the data that’s been released so far – doesn’t shed any light on who’s winning the Mac operating system versus Windows operating system war in our fine county.
And what type of internet access plans do Guilford County residents have? Glad you asked because the new data from the census bureau has the answers. In Guilford County, 63 percent of residents use broadband connections such as cable, fiber optic or DSL, while 44 percent have a cellular data plan for their internet surfing needs. Just over 3 percent have satellite service and .5 percent are using “dial-up alone” – most likely to sign into their Prodigy and AOL accounts to see if they’ve got mail.
Take a guess as to the type of heat found in area homes? If you guessed that 53 percent have electric heat, then you don’t win anything, but you do get the satisfaction of knowing that you are correct. In Guilford County, 44 percent have gas heat, while just under 2 percent use fuel oils like kerosene to meet their heating needs.
Less than one-third of one percent of Guilford County residents have no home heat.
The US Census Bureau data shows that this county isn’t exactly a place where carpooling or public transportation has caught on like wildfire. In fact, according to the new five-year government stats compiled recently, more people living in the county walk to work than take public transportation. According to the data, 82 percent of Guilford County residents who work drive to and from the workplace alone as a general practice. Only 9 percent of area workers carpool, while 1.3 percent walk to work and a meager 1 percent use public transportation. Only 1 percent bike or use “other means.” In Guilford County, 5.5 percent of people avoid making a commute to a workplace entirely because they work from home.